Air conditioning terminal units



June 27, 1967 H. J. sPooRMAKER 3,327,605

AIR CONDITIONING TERMINAL'UNITS Filed Nov. 12, 1965 P. Sheets-Sheet l gi /f- June 27, l967 H. J. sPooMAKr-:R 3,327,605

AIR CONDITIONING TERMINAL UNITS Filed NOV. l2, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O 3,327,605 AIR CGNDITIQNING TERMINAL UNITS Hendrik Jacobus Spoormaker, 56 Dorado St., Waterkloof Ridge, Pretoria, Transvaal, Republic of South Africa Filed Nov. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 507,367 Claims priority, application Republic of South Africa, Nov. 18, 1964, 6ft/5,524 7 Claims. (Cl. 98-38) This invention relates to air conditioning of the kind in which each of many rooms in a building is supplied from a primary air supply at a predetermined temperat'ure and a secondary air supply at a different predetermined temperature and at a lower pressure than the primary air supply, both being admitted to the room and the secondary air supply being controlled for a predetermined temperature to prevail in the room.

In these methods the primary and secondary streams are either admitted to the room at separate points or through a single air conditioning unit. The latter is prevalent where false ceilings are not or cannot be installed. Where air is fed into a room through a single conditioning unit at a variable rate, the rate of .air movement in the room also varies. This is undesirable from several points of view and especially from the point of view of air conditioning practice which requires a minimum rate of circulation per unit of area of the room.

For admitting a single stream of air into a room, air conditioning units that cause a larger rate of air movement than the rate of admission from the single air stream are known. In these units the air stream is discharged through nozzles into a discharge chamber which communicates with the room through two apertures. One is the discharge aperture and the other is the intake aperture. The

intake aperture is so positioned relatively to the nozzles that air from the `room is induced into the iiowing air stream. invariably the induced air is subjected to a local treatment cycle, e.g. by passing over heating or cooling coils before joining the main air stream. However, one

needs -a local air treatment cycle, which may be undesirable from a number of points of View, such as piping and piping connections.

In the case of remote primary and secondary air supplies, if t-he secondary air supply is decreased, the primary air supply is increase-d in the same ratio. The air discharged by this unit is either the sum of these two supply air quantities or a fixed ratio to the sum of these two supply air quantities. However, these units may have certain undesirable characteristics such as main plant size requirements and running costs.

An object of the invention is to utilize remote primary and secondary air supplies and to maintain the rate of air ow substantially constant within limits, while the primary air supply is constant and the rate flow of the secondary air is varied. A method according to the invention is characterized by the steps of causing the primary air to be admitted into the space in such a manner that air from the space is induced into the stream of primary air being admitted and admitting secondary air into the same stream in a manner calculated to inhibit induction of air from the space into the stream.

A unit for carrying out the method includes a primary air plenum, a secondary air plenum, a discharge chamber, a room intake aperture to t-he ldischarge chamber, induction nozzles leading from the primary air plenum and directed towards the discharge aperture and a passage between the secondary air plenum and the discharge chamber opening into the discharge chamber in opposition to the room intake aperture.

The invention is further discussed with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- 3,327,6@5 Patented June 27, 1967 ice FIGURE l is a sectional end view of a unit according to the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a section on `the line 2 2 of FIGURE l,

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE l of a different kind of unit,

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 of yet another unit, and

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 of the unit of FIGURE 4.

The air conditioning unit shown in FIGURES l and 2` is composed of three chambers 5, 12 and 17.

rfthe chamber 12 is ya primary air attenuating chamber of known construction. A series of nozzles 18, also of a known type, discharge air from the chamber 12 into the discharge chamber 17.

An adjustable balancing damper 14 is iitted to the inlet 15 of the chamber 12. The aperture 15 leads from a connection 16 for connection to a source of primary air. The damper is set in a known way to cause a predetermined quantity of primary air to be discharged through the unit.

The chamber 5 is the secondary air chamber having an inlet aperture 6 leading from a connection 7 adapted to be connected to a source of secondary air. A damper 10 at the inlet aperture 6 is controlled by a motor 11 of a known kind in response to temperature variations within the room to be conditioned. Manual operation of the damper 10 is also possible.

The outlet from the chamber 5 is past the chamber 12 through apertures 8 and 9 into the chamber 17.

The chamber 17 is provided with two apertures 19 and 20. The nozzles 18 extend into chamber 17 in the direction of aperture 19, while the other aperture 20 is transverse to such direction. Thus with air flowing through the nozzles 18, air from the room is induced into the space 17 and ilows through the aperture 19 with the air from the nozzles.

Air in the chamber 5 is at a higher pressure than air in the room outside. With the damper 10 open air from three sources tends to pass through the aperture 19, from the nozzles 18, from the chamber 5 and from the room outside through the aperture 20. If the apertures, the nozzles and the air supply pressures are suitably chosen, conditions can be so arranged that the volume of air iiowing through the aperture 19 remains substantially constant. Thus the air from the chamber 5 inhibits induction of air through the aperture 20. The greater the Volume of air from the chamber 5, the lesser the volume induced through the aperture 20.

The embodiment shown in FIGURE 3 uses a ditierent relative configuration for the air chambers and also utilizes a different known type of nozzle 18. The operation remains as before. Primary air from the chamber 12 passes through the nozzles 18. The nozzles discharge parallel to a room intake aperture 20 and air is discharged through an aperture 19. In this case the secondary air from the chamber 5 (which is also controlled by a damper, not shown) flows past the nozzles 18 as the arrows indicate. In this case also by a suitable choice of components and air conditions the discharge through the aperture 19 can be kept substantially constant within wide limits.

The units thus far described are suitable for use in systems that have vertical distribution.

The unit illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5 is Suitable for use in a horizontal distribution system. In this case the unit is fitted in front of a primary air duct 21 and a secondary air duct 22. The aperture 6 is in the wall of the duct 22 and the connection 16 is a short elbow.

In all other respects the unit is substantially the same as that illustrated in FIGURE 3.

Note that local air treatment devices are not required in any embodiment. Furthermore the volume of treated air supplied to the units can vary within fairly wide limits while the Volume of air passing through the discharge aperture 19 remains substantially constant.

I claim:

1. An air conditioning unit including a primary air plenum, means for introducing primary air into the primary air plenum at superambient pressure, a secondary air plenum, means for introducing secondary air into the secondary air plenum at superambient pressure, a discharge chamber, a room intake aperture to the discharge chamber, induction nozzles leading from the primary air plenum and directed into the discharge chamber towards the discharge aperture and a passage between the secondary air plenum and the discharge chamber opening into the discharge chamber in a different direction from the room intake aperture thereby to inhibit induction of air from the room into the discharge chamber to the extent that secondary air is supplied to the discharge chamber so as to maintain the flow rate of air from the unit substantially constant.

2. The unit claimed in claim 1 in which the passage opens behind the induction nozzles in the direction in which they are directed.

3. The unit claimed in claim 1 in which the passage opens into the discharge chamber along a side opposite to that on which the room intake aperture is situated.

4. The unit claimed in claim 1 which is formed as a rectangular boX with the discharge aperture at the top of the box and the room intake aperture on one side of the box.

5. The unit claimed in claim 1 in which the primary air plenum is adjacent and below the discharge chamber, the induction nozzle project upwardly from the primary air plenum, the discharge aperture is on top of the discharge chamber, the room intake aperture is in a side of the chamber and the passage opens into the opposed side of the chamber.

6. The unit claimed in claim 1 in which the primary air plenum is adjacent and beside the discharge chamber, the induction nozzles project through the party wall between the plenum and the chamber and are upwardly directed, the room intake aperture is in the opposed wall of the chamber, the discharge aperture is in the top of the chamber and the passage opens in the base of the chamber.

7. A method of air conditioning an enclosed space so Vas to maintain substantially constant ow of air ,into said enclosed space from a discharge chamber, comprising directing primary air into said discharge chamber at a superambient pressure and inducing air from said enclosed space into said discharge chamber by the flow of said primary air into said discharge chamber, and directing secondary air at superambient pressure into said dischargel chamber in a direction different from the direction of flow of induced air from said enclosed space thereby to inhibit induction of air from said enclosed space into said discharge chamber in proportion to the quantity of ow of secondary air into the discharge chamber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,020,819 2/1962 Kunen 98-38 3,122,201 2/1964 Ashley et al. 98--38 X 3,263,743 8/1966 Baumgarten 98--38 X ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

MEYER PERLIN, Examiner.

W. E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner. 

7. A METHOD OF AIR CONDITIONING AN ENCLOSED SPACE SO AS TO MAINTAIN SUBSTANTIALLY CONSTANT FLOW OF AIR INTO SAID ENCLOSED SPACE FROM A DISCHARGE CHAMBER, COMPRISING DIRECTING PRIMARY AIR INTO SAID DISCHARGE CHAMBER AT A SUPERAMBIENT PRESSURE AND INDUCING AIR FROM SAID ENCLOSED SPACE INTO SAID DISCHARGE CHAMBER BY THE FLOW OF SAID PRIMARY AIR INTO SAID DISCHARGE CHAMBER, AND DIRECTING SECONDARY AIR AT SUPERAMBIENT PRESSURE INTO SAID DISCHARGE CHAMBER IN A DIRECTION DIFFERENT FROM THE DIRECTION OF FLOW OF INDUCED AIR FROM SAID ENCLOSED SPACE THEREBY TO INHIBIT INDUCTION OF AIR FROM SAID ENCLOSED SPACE IN TO SAID DISCHARGE CHAMBER IN PROPORTION TO THE QUANTITY OF FLOW OF SECONDARY AIR INTO THE DISCHARGE CHAMBER. 